Ontario Health Informatics Standards Council

The Ontario Health Informatics Standards Council (OHISC) was established by The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in 2002. The council is responsible for governing and/or guiding the use of health informatics (HI) standards in the province. Council membership is made up of experts from across the healthcare system.

The mandate of the council is to provide expert advice and the recommendations to the MOHLTC about health informatics standards for use in Ontario.

Health Informatics Standards

Health informatics (HI) standards are common sets of rules that allow different computer systems to communicate quickly and effectively with each other. Most importantly, they present health information in the same way between systems, no matter who built the system.

HI standards help exchange and use information in the healthcare system. They enable quality system-to-system sharing of electronic information across the system in a consistent and comparable fashion for the benefit of patients, providers and insurance companies.

HI standards are needed to enable consistent and reliable sharing of large volumes of complex health information. Patients depend on providers having their health information to deliver care. This can only happen when this information can be shared between providers using systems that enable accurate information flow.

Governance

OHISC is made up of up to 24 experts from across the health care system in Ontario. The council is led by a Chair, who is appointed by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

Potential candidates may submit an application form and brief letter of intent in order for their membership to be considered by the council. Once approved, each member serves a three-year term of membership. Council membership may be renewed by the recommendation of the Membership Sub-Committee and approval of OHISC.

Standards Submission

All packages should be sent electronically to the OHISC Secretariat at ohisc@ontario.ca.

You will be notified within 2 business days upon receipt of your submission. If you have not heard from the OHISC secretariat within that time frame, please feel free to contact the secretariat to confirm that your submission is under review.